Republic Services, Inc. and Allied
Waste Industries, Inc. disclosed
that they are poised to implement
their plans to complete the merger
in the fourth quarter of 2008. The
companies are highly confident that
they will meet the projected $150
million of merger synergies in the
third year following completion of
the transaction.

“As we move through the planning
process and get closer to the completion
of this merger, we are very confident
that we will be able to achieve value
for our shareholders by building
on both companies’ foundations of
profitable growth,” said Jim O’Connor,
chairman and CEO of Republic Services.

Republic Services and Allied Waste
began the integration planning process
immediately after the announcement
of their definitive merger agreement
by forming 17 functional teams of
corporate, regional and local representatives
from both companies. Over the past
three months, these teams have invested
more than 12,000 man-hours in planning
for the smooth and successful merger
of Republic and Allied. A large part
of the planning process included
the review and selection of the operating
systems that will be used by the
combined company. Additionally, the
companies have named the top 70 executives
and managers of the combined company.